Gussie Vann of Tennessee has been added to the list of those exon­er­at­ed from death row fol­low­ing the dis­missal of all charges against him in September 2011. Vann becomes the 139th for­mer death row inmate exon­er­at­ed since 1973. Vann was orig­i­nal­ly con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 1994 for a sex­u­al assault and mur­der of his own daugh­ter, Necia Vann, in 1992. However, in 2008 fol­low­ing state post-con­vic­tion review, Circuit Court Senior Judge Donald P. Harris held that Vann was enti­tled to a new tri­al because his defense attor­neys failed to hire foren­sic experts to chal­lenge the state’s alle­ga­tions of sex­u­al abuse. (Vann v. State, Order, Post-con­vic­tion No. 99 – 312, 10th Judicial Dist., McMinn Cty., May 28, 2008). Judge Harris wrote that this fail­ure led to Vann being con­vict­ed on ​“inac­cu­rate, exag­ger­at­ed and spec­u­la­tive med­ical tes­ti­mo­ny.” (Id. Memorandum, at 23). At the post-con­vic­tion hear­ing, foren­sic experts con­tra­dict­ed the state’s ear­li­er tes­ti­mo­ny and said there were no signs of recent sex­u­al abuse on the vic­tim. Judge Harris described the fail­ings of Vann’s orig­i­nal attor­neys as ​“not only prej­u­di­cial, but dis­as­trous.” (Id.) The state elect­ed not to appeal this rul­ing, though it did try to find grounds for a con­vic­tion on a less­er offense. Ultimately all charges were dropped by the state on September 22, 2011.

Evidence was pre­sent­ed that Vann suf­fered from intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties. He left school in the third grade and scored 69 on an IQ test in the sec­ond grade. The victim’s moth­er, Bernice Vann, also had intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties. At post-con­vic­tion, the defense pre­sent­ed evi­dence that the victim’s death may have been acci­den­tal or caused by her moth­er. (Memorandum from defense attor­neys to state attor­neys regard­ing appeal of Judge Harris’s Order, June 24, 2008).

(Vann v. State, No. 99 – 312, 10th Judicial District, May 28, 2008; see also Amended Judgment, dis­miss­ing all counts, signed by Judge Harris, the District Attorney, and Vann’s defense attor­ney); and ​“Retrial ordered for death row inmate Vann,” Associated Press, June 3, 2008). See Innocence. Vann is the third death row inmate exon­er­at­ed since 1973 and the first in the coun­try in 2011. See DPIC’s Innocence Database.

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